London Housing Foundation supports the work of Solace Women’s Aid and in particular their Rough Sleeping Census. We asked their Women’s Rough Sleeping Census Team to tell us more about it.
Imagine sitting in a stairwell – cold, exhausted and hungry. It’s nighttime, it’s quiet, so you allow your eyes to close. But then you hear footsteps – and know that the worst has yet to begin.
For women, rough sleeping is so much more than a battle against weather and a lack of food: it is a high risk of rape, abuse, exploitation and sexual violence. Too often, asking for help means being forced to pay for food or shelter with sexual acts. Too often, the risk comes from the general public as well as fellow rough sleepers. And too often, these additional dangers are overlooked and unaddressed.
Women are under-represented in rough sleeping statistics and provision, yet research, lived experience, and the observations of services tell us that women are some of the most vulnerable within the rough sleeping population. As one woman told us last year: “I have to rely on people I can’t trust and don’t feel safe with. I have to put myself at risk and do things I don’t want to so I can get shelter for the night.” To protect themselves, women are less likely than men to bed down anywhere for the night and are therefore often missed by government data collection methods. The number of women counted by the survey last year in London was almost double that counted by government snapshots. This is because, rather than sleeping on the street, where government counts are completed, women often spend the night in 24-hour fast food restaurants, sit in A&E or ride public transport to keep themselves safe. Women will often sleep through the day, rather than after dark, which also results in being missed in official counts.
Our annual Women’s Rough Sleeping Census aims to collect more comprehensive data on women experiencing rough sleeping. Our research seeks to improve support and provision for women who are rough sleeping and experiencing other forms of hidden homelessness by working directly with service and outreach teams on gender-informed practice – meeting women where they are at, when they are there. Funding from LHF helps us do this.
A more accurate picture of the number of women experiencing rough sleeping helps ensure the right amount of service provision is dedicated to women’s needs, protecting them from the specific risks and challenges they face. Despite only running since 2022, the Census has already informed provisions, services and outreach policies across London. We have seen women’s spaces co-created with those with lived experience, new borough policies written, and specialist accommodation services created in direct response to Census findings.
Since 2022, more than 2,000 women across England have shared their experiences of recent rough sleeping through the Women’s Rough Sleeping Census and this year we hope to be our biggest count yet. As this movement grows, more women than ever will finally be seen and heard.
To find out more, please visit: https://www.solacewomensaid.org/womens-rough-sleeping-census/